Synergistic immunotherapeutic effects of Lycium barbarum polysaccharide and interferon-α2b on the murine Renca renal cell carcinoma cell line in vitro and in vivo

Chen,Shiyou; Liang,Lunan; Wang,Ying; Diao,Jianhun; Zhao,Chunxiong; Chen,Gang; He,Yunfeng; Luo,Chunli; Wu,Xiaohou; Zhang,Yao

doi:10.3892/mmr.2015.4230

Synergistic immunotherapeutic effects of Lycium barbarum polysaccharide and interferon-α2b on the murine Renca renal cell carcinoma cell line in vitro and in vivo

Authors:
- Shiyou Chen
- Lunan Liang
- Ying Wang
- Jianhun Diao
- Chunxiong Zhao
- Gang Chen
- Yunfeng He
- Chunli Luo
- Xiaohou Wu
- Yao Zhang
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Affiliations: Department of Urology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing 400016, P.R. China, Department of Reproductive Medicine, The Affiliated Hospital of Jining Medical College, Jining, Shandong 272000, P.R. China, Department of Oncology, The First People's Hospital of Jiulongpo District, Chongqing 400050, P.R. China, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing 400016, P.R. China
Published online on: August 20, 2015 https://doi.org/10.3892/mmr.2015.4230
Pages: 6727-6737
Copyright: © Chen et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution License.

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Abstract

Novel therapeutic strategies to improve clinical efficacy in patients with renal cell carcinoma (RCC) are required. The possibility of combination therapy with Lycium barbarum polysaccharides (LBP) and recombinant interferon (IFN)‑α2b remains to be elucidated in RCC. The present study investigated the putative synergistic immunotherapeutic roles of LBP and IFN‑α2b against RCC in vitro and in vivo. The mouse RCC cell line, Renca, was used for in vitro experiments. Treatment of the cells with a combination of LBP and IFN‑α2b markedly inhibited cell proliferation, retarded cell cycle growth and promoted apoptosis in the Renca cells. Western blot analysis revealed that LBP and IFN‑α2b synergistically downregulated the expression levels of cyclin D1, c‑Myc and Bcl‑2, and upregulated the expression of the antiapoptotic protein, Bax. Myeloid‑derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) were markedly upregulated during tumour progression and promoted tumour growth by inhibiting the T‑cell‑mediated immune response. In vivo, a marked reduction in the MDSC ratio and tumour volume was observed in a group receiving combined treatment with LBP and IFN‑α2b in a xenograft tumour model. In conclusion, the present study suggested that the combination of LBP and IFN‑α2b is likely to be more effective in treating murine RCC compared with the less pronounced immunotherapeutic effects of administering LBP or IFN-α2b alone.

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